Ellen Page Comes Out At LGBT Conference: Video

Citing industry pressures and her feeling of “personal obligation and a social responsibility,” Oscar-nominated actress Ellen Page delivered an emotional speech yesterday at the Time to THRIVE Conference held in support of LGBT youth saying, “I am here today because I am gay.” Watch it below:

45 Comments

Kudos to you. But I will admit I don’t you were hiding as well as you think you were…

iwasrite • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Time to send a massive amount of “I told you so” texts.

Anonymous • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

I didn’t know.

bfd • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

called it

amc73 • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

I’m gay and I don’t care. Just hold your girlfriend’s hand on the street and kiss her when you feel like it and we will all know and so will the youth of America. I think that’s a much more powerful message.

peter de oliveira • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Who’s going to hold the hand of theParent or Brother or Sister of the young youth that has committed suicide !!

Master • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Ahh, the old suicide defense. You’re ridiculous. I am sure Page coming up as a lesbian has prevented, what, (insert standard exaggeration) about 7 million potential gay suicides from not happening?

Warbo • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Yeah, but then how could she use it to push her career forward?

thephantomcat • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Please, with the I always knew bs. Every one thinks everyone is gay so when anyone comes out everyone is all “I knew it!”

phantomcatsright • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Here, here, man!

Jason V • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

The “not a big secret” crowd are wholly and entirely missing the point of someone not yet being out and the pressure she alludes to.

Anonymous • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Paige reminds me of a young Jeannine Garofolo, but she’s much cuter and more interesting and funny.

Anonymous • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Good for her, but the rest of the country could care less.

James • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

So then they do care? If they “could care less”, they must care a bit. I think you meant to say they “couldn’t care less” – which is false, as I care.

Billy • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Good for her. Everyone should be who they really are.

Ray • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Seemed obvious to me but didn’t care. Big fan of her work. Bigger fan now because of her courage

Jerry • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Courage? Someone who is awarded the Purple Heart is courageous. Ellen…not so much.

Holden • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Jerry,
Courage is not solely defined by going to war. Ellen’s statement is courageous in part because of fucktards like you.

KCV • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Yes, someone being awarded the Purple Heart is undoubtedly the result of exhibiting courage. However, this shouldn’t necessarily diminish courage shown by others in completely different scenarios & situations. There are levels of courage and different forms of courage. Having come out myself to my parents and then having them disown me, at the risk of sounding self-congratulatory, took a bit of courage on my part. By no means do I suppose it was the same form & level of courage awarded a Purple Heart recipient. There are times in life when having experiential knowledge is necessary in order to formulate a fully informed opinion. You may have this knowledge…I don’t know. But each situation is different. And I personally applaud Ellen for choosing to live in truth.

Mr. Majestyk • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Jerry is what’s called an “internet tough guy”. Cowering behind the wall of anonymous commenting, he thinks he can judge what is and isn’t courage. Going to war takes courage. Coming out of the closet takes courage. Being a jerk? That’s NOTHING.

Basic Logic • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Dumbasses. The purple heart is awarded for being injured in battle, not for courage.

Pazuzu with a Z • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Some of you guys are real @ssholes. Ellen’s brave speech is a watershed moment for gay actors and a challenge for allegedly “liberal” Hollywood to examine its hypocrisy and prejudices.

ChicagoDan • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Sadly, “liberal” Hollywood hasn’t changed after others have come out. Good for her for actually calling them out. Glad she reached the stage where she felt safe enough to just be herself.

I commend her for coming out at such a young age, her heart is def. in the right place, hopefully her speech can inspire youth everywhere to never be afraid to show their true colors. A lovely actress and and an even lovelier person.

RJ • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

People who say sh*t like, “who cares?” or “I already knew” get on my last nerve.

1) Everyone doesn’t know.
2) How did you know? Have you had sex with her? Because last time I checked, there are straight people who don’t always look or behave “straight” and there are gay people who don’t look and behave “gay”.
3) Her hand was trembling when she made this speech. Why? Because she does have a lot to lose in terms of her career and the roles she will be cast in. She’s incredibly brave.
4) Straight people don’t have to come out because they are free to put their relationships on display without anyone judging them or their career/livelihood being ruined.
5) If being gay was so profitable and a great boon for someone’s career, everyone who is closeted would be out. The vast majority of gay celebs are in the closet.

dude • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Some of us are actually friends with her and have known for a while. She’s repped at WME where there have been INTERNAL MEMOS going around stating this months ago when she told her agent. We all knew.

Stop being mad for not being in the loop, k thanks!

James • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

You and your circle of friends and colleagues are not “everyone”. There are a few billion other people on earth, though you might not have noticed, k thanks!

Cat Man Do • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Loved her in Hard Candy.

Good for Ellen, Screw her Reps • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

I have always known and it’s her damn publicist and agent who kept her in the closet for so long. They brainwashed her into thinking her career would suffer if she was openly affectionate with her girlfriend. And Ellen became very annoying almost insufferable lashing out in anger at any publication that implied she was a lesbian.

This is because her team of reps told her she had to vehemently and angrily deny any possible innuendo but when they published photos of her and her girlfriend holding hands in Europe on vacation it was very obvious the two of them are lesbians.

Her anger should have been directed at her agent-manager-publicist her handlers who forced her to hide in the closet. Now that she’s out hopefully other young stars will follow her lead.

This is very significant because she is so young and she is very successful. She’s established but if she had come out in 2007 after Juno opened to such success she still would have gotten all the parts she’s gotten.

Nobody would have discriminated against her if she had announced at age 19 who she was. But her team of reps forbid her from going public. They are totally to blame for every actor or actress who is forced to hide in the closet.

The handlers of these stars are the real villains in this game because all they care about is getting the most money they possibly can from their clients.

Qwan Ho • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

This would not have anything to do with her being edited out of X-Men Days Of Future Past , would it?

Paul C • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Assuming many of those who rose to their feet when she announced she is gay are also gay, how does that affect you if you are not gay? I think all homophobic people are deep closeted gays as I am straight and enjoy greatly the few gay friends I have and treasure them for who they are as I treasure all my friends for who they are. I’ve ever seen Ellen in anything other than this video so she is an unknown to me but her sexuality meaning anything to anyone besides who she’s intimate with seems absurd.

amirite • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

I think those who accuse others of being secretly gay are suffering from a psychological condition known as projection.

Bdine • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Does Kelly Bush’s company handle anyone who ISN’T gay? But kudos to Ellen. Her statement matters and was heard.

St • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Someone should tell actresses that no one really cares when they are gay. And they don’t need to publicly announce it. It will not jeopardize their career in any way. Because well no one takes it serious. Anne Hech was gay and then wasn’t I believe. Lindsay Lohan went gay for that Samanta chick and then switched back. Amber Heard was gay and then when Jonhhy Depp showed interest she switched side in a second.

I don’t think anyone cares if Ellen Page is gay or not.

James • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

So you just spent 5 mins crafting that response about how much you don’t care? Wow, imagine how much passion you must devote to the things you actually do care about.

Redight88 • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Publicity stunt.

IRON WILL • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

I have NO RESPECT for Ellen Page coming out and seeking some sort of validation from the public and tolerance from the public-at-large.

You know why? I’ll never forget the interview she did promoting ‘Inception’, where she used it as a platform to give liberal hate-spew against Republicans like Sarah Palin.

The I don’t care crowd is especially full of it because if you really didn’t care you wouldn’t take the time to read AND post about it. When I see something about sports or the coal industry I don’t stop everything to post “I don’t care and neither does the rest of the country.”

Movie Watcher • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

Great. But she does understand that as both a movie watcher and hetero male I will never again believe her in the role of a straight woman ie. Kitty Pryde. Would not have care if she had done the Jodie Foster thing for say 30 years. Now she has fewer roles to play. And yes the actor or actress public life does impact how believable the roles can be. So if she feels it was time for her great but I am not that into gay movies so her movies I want to see just dropped to next to nothing. Studios understand the money side of things a whole lot better then the actors do. Lower money = less roles. Simple as that.

Jonathan • on Feb 15, 2014 10:32 am

I like how you will believe her in the role of a superhero who can teleport (from which she clearly draws on deep experience), but not in the role of someone in a heterosexual relationship. Actors act.